I don't have any. : ( I only had access starting in 2003, I think.

From what I can garner from looking through old issues of Computer Games Strategy Plus (oldest ones dated at 1996), the Internet was a hell of a lot less flashy then. I only remember bits of this past Internet from when we lived in another state, which was forever ago.

When I first started out (with a parental lock no less...thank God THOSE days are over), I couldn't figure out why "furries" had such a bad rep (I knew it only as "anthropomorphic artwork"). I didn't know that the Internet is the largest stockpile of porn in existence--that changed real fast. DX I screamed at my parental controls when they denied me access to a clean website.

Nowadays everything's changed, of course. And that's about all I have to say, really.



BONUS, BECAUSE THE ABOVE WAS WHOLLY UNSUBSTANTIAL.

First sighting of Megaman: In a back issue of a kids' magazine--I forget which title--that had an enjoyable article on video games. I was put off by Megaman 4's box art, though.

First acknowledged Maverick: Wire Sponge. Back in elementary school, I was stupid enough to seek refuge in the back of the bus where the older (and downright vulgar) kids sat. One fellow was nice enough to talk to me and let me try out his copy of Megaman Xtreme 2. Wire Sponge's was the only name I remembered, but I didn't actually make it to the boss.

First sighting of Battle Network: Over some kid's shoulder in elementary school. Either it didn't interest me then, or the kid told me to piss off, because I didn't see much of it.

First sighting of Legends: In that "commercial" commemorating Megaman's 15th anniversary...I think.

First sighting of ZERO: An ad in a kid's digest magazine. I think. I do remember an older issue of GI mentioning "Rockman Zero" being in Japan's Top 10 before that.

First sighting of ZX: X-Play's review. [Thanks to that game, I was able to get farther in Anniversary Collection. Mr. Sessler was not kidding when he said those games would kick your ass and leave you bleeding on the sidewalk.]

Anyone want to share their first sightings? Because I'm done with this journal.


FUN FACT: When I tried submitting this, the connection timed out and I didn't get it submitted for fear it would be done twice.

Also, Persacon is fast approaching.

Aside from the fact that media watchdogs are one of the reasons we still have censorship, there's another matter related to video games that I have yet to see anyone comment on.

In some cases, it's not your place to decide what your kids can and can't handle. Yes, it's a bad idea to let little Timmy play hentai games--that's just common sense. But take me, for instance: I have seen and heard worse things on the bus and at school than in most R-rated films* (flying condom, anyone?). That doesn't mean I want to see the same things on the big screen, but given that none of the other students' stupidity has affected me much, I think it's safe to say that those same events wouldn't come as a surprise to me if replicated in film. And yet, a watchdog would take one look at either my actual age (16) or the age I look (12) and declare that I should not watch anything above PG because another teen was disturbed by that movie. Can they really do that?

Everyone is going to react differently to different things in media, and you can't predict how. One kid might watch He-Man and see an epic struggle 'twixt good and evil; another would watch it and see homoerotica. But how could YOU say beforehand that that was how they would react? Even if there's a pattern of reactions, there's no telling when that pattern could break (and there are many factors to take into account). When I was younger, it didn't take much effort to scare the shit outta me; going into Best Buys was once a nightmare. But as I matured, less and less "scary" things frightened me, until only the truly psychologically unsettling can disturb me. Well, almost. (Yes, I'm willingly admitting that!) But how could you decide what I can watch, read or play without flinching, if you didn't know me? I'd just show you the door and decide for myself if something bothers me.

And there's different mediums to take into account. I, for one, go limp and runny when I see blood in real life or live-action TV/movies...but throw animated buckets of the stuff at me and I don't flinch. Could you tell me that I can't handle AKIRA because it contains blood, based solely on my reaction to blood in real life? No. [And AKIRA I can handle.]

Problem is, media watchdogs apparently think they can tell everyone else what they can and can't deal with, and then the rest of the country or world suffers because of it. The fact that they rarely take the target audience and this uncertainty of what they can handle, plus the fact that you can't tell over five million Americans/people what to do, does not help.

That said, it's a little broad to be applying to advertising, but it's something to keep in mind. The ESRB exists for a reason, but it's not flawless (Heart of Darkness, anyone?) and thus what would bother one player, won't another, regardless of rating, so it doesn't help to complain...unless they just didn't care.

I realize that it's difficult to figure out what to market to who and such when looking at things that way, but adverts don't need to be crass, disturbing or sex-saturated (ex: just about every beer/perfume ad out there) to be effective, unless that's the true nature of the product--and then, it's a good idea to stay within the range of your audience, and think about their age. Yes, you can't tell how they'll react (and be right all the time) but you still need to apply common sense.

Just because several kids can play Quake and not be disturbed (let's face it, reality is ten million times worse than Quake), doesn't mean their parents won't feel the same way. Who's going to write to the marketers, pointing out to them that telling elementary/middle schoolers that Quake is an awesome game is not a good idea? Not the kids. (Although some could still be disturbed by the game, but they can always toss it to some corner of their room and get help...I hope.) So, even taking into account that you can't really tell a kid that Quake is too scary for them unless they expressed that themselves, you still have to adhere to the Advertising Code of Conduct, which can be summed up as thus:

1.) Don't show porn to kids. You don't know how they're going to react, you don't know what their parents/guardians will think, and you will inevitably be thought of as a douche by those of us who aren't media watchdogs, because you were stupid enough to show porn to kids--a demographic that really doesn't need to be seeing that. (Artistic nudity is another thing. THAT looks much better and carries more thoughtful connotations--but whether someone outside the intended audience wants to see it is up to them.)

2.) When all else fails, poll. If someone raises a stink over your ad, ask the audience what they thought of it. Yes, polls can be warped by lies, but look at it this way: It is wiser to ask your audience, than to ask the non-audience.

3.) Say you're a marketer for Grand Theft Auto. You know the game was not meant for children (in a broad sense), and thus, you do your damndest to keep its adverts away from them. That includes asking retailers not to sell it to minors. You have taken my argument into account, but it's not the kids you're worried about complaining. So, everything has gone according to plan, and there's no way your adverts could fall unto the wrong eyes. You made sure, and so did everyone else involved.

Yet, your inbox is flooded with complaints from parents that poor little Sally saw an advert for GTA--yours. Think about it...whose fault is it?

In short, it's very hard to hide anything from children (or teens, or adults), especially when the parents don't cooperate with you. When should the rest of us get mad? When the marketer didn't care, was only out for money, and plastered their crap all over the place with no regard to the intended audience. And before anyone cries foul...It is one thing when The Man gets greedy and undercuts you at every turn. It is another thing to be a douche.

4.) If your advert is unintentionally disturbing to a few kids, that's just unfortunate. If it's disturbing to a LOT of kids...better look over it again.


In short: Don't go telling kids or any other people what they can and can't deal with, but still apply common sense to your advertising.

...dammit, this article was supposed to be SHORT! D:

*...that is, an R-rated film that was NOT meant to be shock humour.

EDIT: My Dad, upon looking over this, would like to add that 1.) yes, you can tell a kid what they can and can't watch, and 2.) society has evolved beyond the "purity" of the Bible-thumpers and 50s/60s standards. Also, I apologize if the whole thing is incomprehensible.

You see that avatar up there? Or down here?



BIG thanks to ~RandyPandy for telling me that GIMP 2 can animate. Although, it was a nightmare trying to set the layers up. Gahh.


By the way, that thing Megaman is sitting on? It's a GameBoy-ized part of Spike Rosered's stage (I wish him dead).

First off: It seems Rockman Tanjou is down. FUCK. That place is the only way to read manga like Rockman Megamix short of actually buying it, but then of course it's not in English.


Also, this rant has no introduction.

1.) HEAT. I think that's all that needs to be said.

2.) BEING COLD INSIDE THE HOUSE. Ditto.

3.) MOSQUITOES. Oh no, it's not enough that temperatures can rival those of Venus's (or at least feel like it). Every time we go outside, we become mosquito food. As of this rant, I have three mosquito bites on my right leg and one on my left. When I have an itch, I do not want to search the offending area to make sure it's not a bite site. [All that, and one of my sisters is allergic to the damn buggers, which makes everything worse.]

4.) INABILITY TO LEAVE HOUSE. Either the heat will fry me or I'll get bitten. Or both. It's inevitable.

Blaarrgh.

In seventh grade, there was a computer. The perverted little assmonkeys hogged it, but on rare occasions, I'd get to use it.

Their most frequented sites were Flash game sites (and perhaps pornos). Once, I played a game called "Spank the Monkey". After some practice, I spanked the monkey at 325 MPH. I finally had something to be proud about in that class.

Years later, I found out what "spank the monkey" was a euphanism for.

Eeeeuuughh.



NOT Useless Trivia: Today is Mom's birthday.


EDIT 6/1/08: Now it's mine.

EDIT 6/2/08: Now it's no one's (that I know of), but I figured I might as well keep editing this thing until I have something bigger to write about.

[link]
After reading this, I think I know how Susan Stewart would slam my continuation of Ruby-Spears's Megaman (and who wants to be she slammed the original show at one point?):

She'd whine about how it goes from "child's fare" to "psycho-thriller", and ignore WHY it did so (and I never intend any of my crap for kids in the first place, so that accusation would make even less sense). Then she'd harp on the violence and OMG blood, forgetting that it was never a kid's show to begin with. (Don't believe me? Beavis and Butthead, a show written for adults and mindless teens, was on her worst list. The problem is, she was writing about best and worst shows for KIDS. She didn't specify any age groups, either.) Finally, she'd slam any "homoerotic undertones" she happened to catch--never mind that two year olds, whom she seems to be writing for (at least in that article), probably wouldn't notice them.

On the other hand, I could be wrong and she'd bash it for different reasons, but I definitely know that the second half of MM:GS wouldn't make her "Top 10 Best" list. You know, when it emulates real life further by having characters DIE. And STAY DEAD.

...also, if it were a real show, I'd be worried if it was marketed to elementary schoolers. Anyone remember "Aftermath"?


Now that I'm done making fun of the media watchdogs, on to something I wanted to do for a while: list all me crossovers. Hey, this IS "Useless Trivia".

MM9 Canon:
Megaman/Halo
Megaman/Metroid
Megaman/ Astro Boy
Megaman/Vectorman
Megaman/Pulseman/Air Zonk (long story thar...)

MM9 Non-Canon or Considered
Megaman/Aliens/Metroid
Megaman/Transformers
Megaman/Sonic (comical)

MM:GS Hypothetical:
w/ Death Note
w/ Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers (and they DON'T really team up...)

Other:
MMPR/VR Troopers

There.